Demon Hunters
by dawnindanite
Summary: AU. Demons. Hunters. A game of cat and mouse. Griffin Corporation is a demon hunting unit created to rid Los Angeles of the Demon Underworld. James, Kendall, Carlos, Logan, and a few other familiar faces are determined to make it happen. Warning: Harsh language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi All! New story from yours truly. I've sort of mentioned this in passing, but this story is definitely something that is completely different than my other works. It definitely takes place in an alternative universe. I'm going to let you guys read it, before I explain myself any further. I hope you guys like it!

**Warning: Harsh language and violence throughout the story. **

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Big Time Rush

* * *

_***buzz***_

"I have her cornered from the Southwest."

_***buzz***_

"Same from the North."

_***buzz***_

"Got the East covered."

_***buzz***_

"Looks like you guys have her locked in. Make sure you get her before she attacks her vic. She took him into the alley not too long ago."

_***buzz***_

"It's always the alley. Why don't they ever get creative and kill their victims somewhere else?"

_***buzz***_

"Carlos, we don't want them to kill anyone, anywhere." Logan's exasperated voice buzzed through their earpieces.

_***buzz***_

"Shut the fuck up, both of you. Remember what the specs said; this one's got good hearing," James' no nonsense tone interrupted them. "Kendall, you're closest, shoot it before it attacks."

**_*buzz*_**

"Got it."

The team watched from their locations, waiting for the flirtatious blonde woman to make a move. Getting her from behind would be easiest.

The woman leaned over her drunken victim, seemingly ready to kill, before she let out a derisive laugh.

"You think I can't hear you? Come out, come out, wherever you are." She let out another giggle before letting her victim slide to the ground. Her eyes glowed in the dark alley. "Come on, I always like a good fight before I eat. Meat tastes leaner." She laughed again.

"Fuck," James said to himself, well aware that everyone could hear him. He hated that their covers had been blown, things just got messier when their targets knew they were hunted.

Kendall stood up from his position, pointing a gun at the blonde.

She tilted her head and smiled at him. "Mmmm, you're a cute one." Her eyes narrowed before her human skin shed, revealing a blue reptilian demon standing in its wake. Her stance had grown so that she now towered over Kendall, whipping her tail back and forth. "I wonder how you taste!" She jumped on Kendall, knocking the gun out of his hand.

"Shit, Kendall!" Carlos cried out, jumping out to help his partner.

The demon snapped its head up. "Ooh, another one's come to play."

Carlos fired his gun at the reptile, making it drop Kendall in the process. Kendall scrambled to find his gun.

The reptile hissed from its new position on the wall, slowly making its way over to Carlos. Carlos took another shot, missing the demon slightly as it jerked away, pouncing on Carlos, throwing him to the ground. The latino struggled with the demon, getting in punches, and avoiding the razor sharp teeth.

Finally finding his gun, Kendall shot at the demon, distracting it from chomping off Carlos' head.

It jumped back, readying itself to attack Kendall, again.

"I've had enough of this," James muttered, jumping from a ledge he was perched on. He landed gracefully on the ground and aimed at the monster.

Two shots passed through the demon's head, splattering Kendall with its brain. The body slumped down.

James tucked his gun away. Glaring at where the demon had previously stood.

Kendall wiped his face. "You couldn't have waited until I pushed it away or something?" He threw his hands up in disgust. "Now I got to get my clothes dry-cleaned, again! Damn it, James."

Carlos stood up. "Why didn't you make your appearance sooner? Seriously, my head was almost ripped off!"

James narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you use your craft? Things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand."

Carlos shrugged, "I wanted to do things the old-fashioned way."

The drunken victim that the demon had brought into the alley began to stir. Carlos studied him. "He's so drunk, I don't think he's going to remember anything."

James turned away, heading towards his car. "Doesn't matter. Logan, Blank him. An hour should do."

_***buzz***_

"Got it. What about the corpse?" The technician of the group asked from his van parked nearby the scene.

"What we usually do. Get JEN on it." James replied, referring to the clean-up crew that consisted of three women all named Jennifer.

_***buzz***_

"Awesome. I mean, I'll watch it until they get here." Carlos' enthusiastic cry rang through James' earpiece.

"Meet back at GC in an hour for a debriefing."

* * *

James Diamond sat down in his seat an hour later at Griffin Corporation, a seemingly innocent international shipping company that actually housed the demon hunting unit in Los Angeles. Arthur Griffin was well aware of the supernatural world, having encountered demons in his youth. He started the unit when he realized that there was a demon underworld within the city. Not having the knowledge to run the unit, he funded the operation but left management to Gustavo Rocque, an ex-marine who fought demons overseas.

Gustavo Rocque ran the unit, and until recently was out in the field, but because of a severe injury, was detained to desk work for the rest of his career. He had recruited James first out of all the hunters, not only based on his impeccable demon hunting training, but also because James was a Dormant.

A Dormant was a decedent of a person or persons known to have hyper-human abilities. Dormants never know when or where their abilities start; some Dormants live their whole lives without awakening. Dormants who have awakened to their power were known as Craft Users. Unlike Carlos and a couple of other hunters on the unit, James had yet to awaken to his craft. He wasn't bothered by that particular information however, he was the best hunter at GC, with or without his craft.

James eyed his colleagues as they drifted into the meeting room.

He spotted Carlos Garcia walk in holding a can of cola, a staple drink for the resident telekinetic. Unlike many others who had to wait for their powers to come in, Carlos was born with his gift ready-to-use. He had alarmed the nurses incredibly when he constantly rolled himself and the crib to the door to be with his mother an hour after she have given birth to him.

Kendall Knight walked in next, freshly showered. Kendall was the only one that James knew before working at GC. They had both joined Griffin's demon hunters training program at the same time. Like James, Kendall was a Dormant. His father was an Element Craft User, however, that didn't necessarily mean that Kendall would be too. It was known for some offsprings to have different crafts from their parents.

Following Kendall a few minutes later was the other team on the unit, Jo and Lucy.

Jo Taylor was the daughter of a CIA agent and was one of the few mortal hunters on the unit. She had accidentally found confidential information her dad had secured about GC and the demon underworld, and since that day, had been enraptured by it. Finding out about her dad's true identity at a young age and picking up a few of his tricks, she was one of the stealthiest members they had. Her background in Judo didn't hurt, either.

Jo's partner, Lucy Stone, was one of Gustavo's newest recruits. Sitting at lunch one day and being attacked by the resident bully, she managed to flicker the lights on and off before creating a powerful surge that led to an explosion, forcing the school to shut down for the rest of the week. Her ability to control electricity proved to be useful once Gustavo put her through training.

James maintained a neutral look as Logan walked into the room alongside the ballistics specialist, Camille, speaking in low voices. He assumed that they were talking about the new bullets that Camille had recently developed.

Originally moving out to L.A. to become an actress, Camille Roberts had stumbled into her current employment almost quite literally. She had misread the address to her audition and somehow managed to swindle her way into the ballistics lab at GC. Needless to say that those security guards were automatically released from their duties that day forward. Camille, or Cam, as she was affectionately known by her colleagues, thought that she had walked into a prop department. When she took a look at the designs for some of the prototypes, she automatically raised questions about the practicality of the design. The ballistics specialist at the time knew that Camille had an intuitive knack for weaponry and begged Gustavo and Griffin to let him apprentice her. They agreed and a few years later, Cam not only learned everything from her master, but surpassed him as well, inventing useful gadgets for the unit.

Logan Mitchell was the technician of the unit. Though he was able to go out into the field with the unit, he was most useful behind a computer. His ability to hack into any computer system and locate information about anything came in handy. Not only was he good at running computer programs that scared even James, Logan was quite adept at logistics. He had set up a van that provided him a bird's eye view of his surrounding area, allowing him to locate and place all members of the unit. Logan was another Craft User, though, it was partial at best. He had physic bursts that foretold the near future, sometimes saving a member's life. However, these bursts came infrequently, and Logan had yet to learn how to master when he could access his craft. Though his technical jargon sometimes confused certain members, he quickly earned the respect of everyone at GC.

Carlos smirked across the long table that spanned across the meeting room. "So, how did your night go, ladies? Catch anything good?"

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "It was another Spitser. I swear, those things are like the pigeons of the DU, they're everywhere. What did you guys get?"

"A Fatiss," Kendall interrupted, raising one of his thick eyebrows. "Impressed?"

"Please, we know that you lost your gun in the process and James had to step in to save your ass," Jo responded, rolling her eyes, and flipping her dirty blonde hair over her shoulder. "You would have lost to the Fatiss if you didn't have the extra pair of hands to help you."

Kendall glared at Logan. "You told them about it?" Kendall knew that in the short amount of time between the assignment and the debriefing, only Logan had time to talk with the girls as he had access to all the communication networks in the unit.

Logan shrugged his shoulders. "I had to pass time somehow as I was Blanking the vic."

One thing that Cam's predecessor had invented was the Blanker, a device used to erase a certain amount of human memory. Cam had perfected the Blanker by allowing the unit to set the time frame they wanted to erase from the victim's memory as opposed to them losing half a day's worth of memories. It caused less confusion in the aftermath. Though the Blanker was helpful, the team thought that the less humans were involved with their work, the better.

James cleared his throat, wanting to avoid any unnecessary arguments. "Logan, anything wrong with the clean up?"

Logan shook his head. "It went smoothly. The corpses stayed corpses." They had run into a few problems in the past when the demon bodies would reanimate and cause trouble for JEN. It was why it was now necessary for the unit to have members wait until the clean up was done before leaving the scene.

"It was good with us as well, but like I said, just a Spitser," Lucy added.

James nodded. "Good. Cam, you don't usually make an appearance, I expect you have something to tell us."

Cam nodded from her seat. "Yep. I think the tracking bullets are almost good to go. They should be ready in the next day or two. That way, when you guys manage to hit the demons, but they manage to get away somehow, it'll be easy to find them."

"You don't know how excited I am to try these babies out!" Logan cried, looking eagerly at Camille, causing the brunette to blush.

James groaned internally, thinking about how he didn't like personal affairs in the workplace. "I don't think we have any pressing assignments tonight, or else Gustavo would be here. I think we can call it a night."

Carlos gave a whoop. "Awesome. I have this video game I want to check out. It's great, you get to go around shooting these aliens−"

"Wait, you spend all day hunting demons, and you go home to fight virtual aliens?" Jo asked in amazement.

Carlos shrugged. "Yeah, how do you relax after work?"

"I don't know, with a bubble bath, maybe?"

Carlos considered her response. "That sounds good, too, but I like my way better. Oh, hey Gustavo."

The large manager of the unit walked into the room with his assistant, Kelly Wainwright, right behind him.

"Gustavo," James greeted with seriousness. "Do you have an assignment for us?"

"What? Oh no. I'm here actually to introduce the newest member of our unit, as, um, a replacement."

Everyone went somber, thinking about what had happened three months ago. It seemed only yesterday that everything transpired.

James scowled. "A replacement isn't necessary. We have enough members on the unit."

"Everyone on the unit needs a partner, James. You know that. It's Griffin's policy." Kelly piped in.

"I don't," he answered.

"James, you're getting a partner, and that's final. That's final," Gustavo repeated, when he saw James about to argue once again.

Kendall and the others sat in silence, watching the verbal exchange like a tennis match. He cleared his throat to break the staring contest between James and Gustavo.

"So, who's the new recruitment?"

Gustavo spared Kendall a look. "I'm glad you asked. You can come in now." He shouted out the door.

A petite young woman with tawny hair stepped into the room with a smirk adorned on her face.

While James only enlarged his eyes, Kendall dropped his jaw.

"Katie!"

* * *

A/N: Oh gosh, I have no idea how you guys are taking it. It's such a divergence from my usual works. I typically like to make the characters maintain their personalities, but I decided to go OOC with this one.

I'm a huge fan of the supernatural genre. So, I was definitely influenced by works like _Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Men in Black,_ and _Witch Hunter Robin _for this story. With the amount of characters that BTR offers, I really thought that I could definitely create a supernatural story using them. Also, by now you're probably aware of the type of language used in the story, normally I wouldn't include it if it weren't necessary, but I wanted to create a more darker and mature atmosphere. I apologize for offending anyone with the language. As for the amount of violence, there's nothing I can really do; the story focusses on demon hunting, there's bound to be some amount of violence incorporated.

Well, I hope you guys liked it! Please, leave a review and tell me your thoughts. :)

Thanks!

Love,

Dawnindanite


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Always with the excuses, but sorry it took so long for an update, I didn't realize that balancing two stories, plus life would get so hectic. Also, I just want to say that all of your amazing support for the first chapter blew me away. It really means so much to me because this my first foray into this genre, so thank you so much! XO

Big thanks to Readplz, ArianamaslowBTR25, littl3cuti3101, Science-Fantasy93, makemelaughsb, and annabellex2 for leaving a review. Some of you always drop a review for all of my works, almost chapter-by-chapter, just wanted to let you guys know that you guys are definitely the ones that keep me writing! Thank you so much for being my inspiration!

Disclaimer: Big Time Rush is not mine.

* * *

Katie Knight was Kendall's younger sister. She waved at her older brother who had stood up when she entered the room.

"Katie's the new recruitment? But, but, she's just a kid."

Katie's smirk dropped into a scowl. "I'm eighteen, Kendall, an adult."

"Barely!" He turned to Gustavo. "There must be some mistake. There's no way that Katie is ready to be a hunter."

Gustavo put out his hand for Kelly to slip him a folder. "Let's see, graduated top of the training program, black belt in Tae Kwon Do and speaks six languages. Nope, there's no mistake. She's the newest member of the unit."

Katie smirked again, "Don't forget, I'm also a craft user."

Kendall sputtered. "What? How?"

"I guess maturity has something to do with it, big brother," Katie threw in a jibe.

"Prove it."

Katie's smirk grew. She spotted a glass of water in front of Jo and with determination, froze the clear liquid, stunning everyone in the room. She giggled before focusing again, this time setting a piece of paper into flames. She brushed her hands together in satisfaction when she finished her performance.

Kendall sat down in wonder. "Elements. Just like dad."

"Not exactly. I can only summon ice and fire. Can't really do anything other than that."

"Enough with the chitter chatter. James, Katie is your new partner. End of story. Everyone is dismissed." Gustavo interrupted, wanting the meeting to end. He eyeballed everyone in the room before making his exit.

James swept past everyone, wanting to have a word with Gustavo.

"Gustavo. I don't need a partner, much less one that needs baby-sitting. I work fine by myself." James said, stopping the manager in his tracks.

Gustavo turned around. "Nobody on this unit works alone, James. You were well aware that a replacement was coming, it was just a matter of when. So go back in there and introduce yourself to your partner like a presentable unit captain and make sure that this is the last time that I'm telling you. End of discussion."

James narrowed his hazel eyes as Gustavo returned to his office. He turned around only to find the unit standing by the door to the meeting room, clearly eavesdropping on the whole conversation.

"Go home. Now." James growled.

"Yes, sir." They all responded.

James watched with beady eyes as they quickly dispersed. He walked back into the meeting room, only to find Katie sitting and waiting for him. He scowled again.

"What are you still doing here?" He hissed.

Katie fluttered her eyes. "Well, Gustavo told you to introduce yourself to me, so, I'm waiting."

"We don't need to do this. It's a misunderstanding. I don't need a partner."

Katie's eager look darkened. She stood up, placing her hands on the table. "Look, I get it. You don't like the idea of having a partner, especially one so young. But guess what, asshole? I'm good at what I do. I can hunt just as well as you can. Like it or not, I'm your partner now, so suck it up, 'cause I'm going to be here a long, long time." She got up and made her way out the door, making sure to cast James one last dirty look. "I'll pretend that this conversation never happened, and tomorrow, you can introduce yourself to me, like a normal person. One chance, buddy. Use it wisely."

James sighed when she left, wondering why the fates were conspiring against him.

* * *

Katie showed up bright and early the next day, bringing donuts for the unit.

While chomping on an apple fritter, Carlos asked, "So, you're Kendall's sister. How come we never heard about you?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him." Katie responded, throwing her older brother a teasing look. "Guess it's because he didn't want to overwhelm you with my aweseomeness. I mean, I am pretty spectacular."

James scowled from behind his computer, away from the group. Her immature speech was already irritating him. He took this time to study Katie's profile. At first glance, James would not have pegged her to be Kendall's sister. Her brown and eyes were a stark contrast to her brother's blonde hair and green eyes. Her thin frame was somewhat reminiscent of his friend's lanky figure, but even there he was pushing it.

A blinking red light on his monitor indicated that Gustavo has sent out a new assignment. He clicked on the file and quickly skimmed through it. James stood up, drawing everyone's eyes to him.

"New assignment. I'm going out to scope some more intel. Logan, forward anything that you find online," James instructed, throwing on his coat.

"Will do." Logan answered, wheeling his computer chair back to his desk.

Katie called after him. "What about me?"

James paused in his step. "Wait here until I get back."

James could hear the girl scoff. "Fat chance. I'm coming with you."

He rolled his eyes and continued walking towards the elevator. He heard her run to catch up.

* * *

They sat in the car waiting for the assignment to show up. No conversation had been struck between James and Katie.

Katie sighed. James could see her turn to face him out of his peripheral.

"James Diamond. Twenty-four. Dormant. Best of his graduating class, works well with a Q-gun. Lived with his mom until beginning his training program, and goes to the gym whenever he's not working. Am I forgetting something? Oh, and has no social life outside of work." Katie listed, dramatically numbering off each point with her fingers.

James grit his teeth.

"Impressive, aren't I?"

"Anyone can do a background search," James answered, still staring out the window.

Katie scowled. "You know, you don't have to act like such a child about this. Why don't you just man up and just face the facts that no matter the amount of pouting you do, I'm still going to be your partner. Sheesh, and you say that you're the one baby-sitting?" She turned her body around and began to fiddle with the new phone that Cam had given to her that morning.

James didn't answer her. He knew she had just made a valid point. He was acting childish, but there was no way that he would admit that to her. He had the feeling that if he acquiesced to this tiny being beside him, he wouldn't hear the end of it. He cleared his throat and continued with his surveillance.

After half an hour, the assignment finally showed up. James stepped out of the car.

"Hey, where are you going?" Katie asked, scrambling out of her seat. She raced around the car to stand next to James.

He looked down at her. "To follow the assignment, what else?" He looked at her clothing. "You're going to have to change your attire if you want to be working with me." He began following the assignment.

Katie frowned, looking down at her oversized sweatshirt with a large cartoon pug on it and her jeans tucked into her combat boots. "What's wrong with my outfit?" She caught up to James and walked with him as they maintained a safe distance from the assignment. "It's not like you're dressed any better. I mean, really? All black? And that trench coat; we live in L.A. You stand out more than I do."

James frowned, but once again, didn't say anything. The duo continued with their tracking until the assignment walked into a coin laundry mat.

Katie sighed, "Looks like we followed a random just doing some chores."

James eyed her. "Demons try to blend in with humans. Didn't they teach you anything in the training program. If he was just doing laundry, how come he didn't bring anything with him?"

He watched in exasperation as Katie expressed her understanding. "Oh." She nudged him with her shoulder. "What do you think he's doing in there? Should we go in and shoot him or something? Hey wait a minute," she interrupted herself. "Cam didn't give me a gun. How come I don't have a gun?"

James rolled his eyes. "Do you ever shut up? You haven't passed Cam's ballistics test yet, which is why you don't have a gun. Make do with your craft for now, but we're not going to need it anyway. This is just a standard check on the assignment, not a hunt. This is precisely why I didn't want you to come with me. You're not ready for the field."

Katie opened her mouth to retort, but shut it when she saw the look on James' face. She silently fumed to herself instead.

James shook his head. He didn't understand how Katie could have possibly been a top graduate from the training program. He turned around abruptly and headed back towards the car.

"Hey, I thought we were watching him!" Katie shouted after him, unable to continue with her silence.

"We're done. I saw Charlie Simmons and Peter Gerstein walk into the mat, confirming that it is in fact a demon hideout. We're going to need the whole unit for this one."

"Huh? What does that even mean? Who are those guys that you mentioned?" Katie asked, strapping herself into her seat once they reached the car.

James quickly sped back to GC. "Simmons and Gerstein are demon informants. We use them to track demons that we need more information on if Logan can't find anything. They're only ever spotted together when a new demon lair has opened. My guess is that the laundry mat is just a cover for a demon hideout. There's going to be more demons in there than just a couple of Spitsers and Turfas. Logan," he said, calling back to GC via car phone. "Get everyone into the meeting room in five. We're on our way."

Katie sat back and gripped her seat as James sped back back to base. "Whoa."

* * *

"A lair? Holy shit, how come we haven't heard anything about this?" Lucy said in shock when James briefed them in the meeting room.

Kendall stood against the wall, arms crossed, absorbing all of the information quietly.

Carlos chugged down his cola, tossing the empty can into the recycling bin. "Great, let's get to it then."

"Carlos. You know that we need more information before we can attack. We don't even know what kind or how many demons are down there." Logan logically pointed out. He scratched his head. "I can't believe that my system didn't pick this up. It's suppose to track the movements of known demons in L.A., so why didn't it detect the lair?"

"Wards." Jo interjected. "They must have put up wards in the lair. My dad told me that sometimes when their trackers are detected, people would lose their scents by disabling the tracker. The demons must have figured out how to turn off your trackers in the hideout."

Logan groaned. "Fuck. That makes sense. He looked sheepishly at James. "Sorry, I didn't even realize."

James shook his head slightly. "It's not your fault. Is there anyway for you to find out how many demons are in there? The sooner, the better. Once word gets out that there's a new lair, more demons will come flocking to this place, more than we can handle. We have to shut this thing down immediately."

Logan stood up. "On it." He head out the room and back to his work station.

"Kendall, Carlos. Keep an eye on the entrance to that place. See if you find the exact entrance and what it is that they're doing down there. Lucy and Jo, I want you girls to track Gerstein and Simmons and see if they will spill any information."

"Right." Jo and Lucy left the room, leaving Kendall and Carlos standing with James.

"What are you going to do?" Carlos asked.

"I have to update Gustavo and find out where my 'partner' disappeared to. After that, I'm heading over to Selana's to see if she's heard anything. We'll take the lookout shift after you guys." James answered.

Carlos chuckled before leaving to get the car. Kendall shoved his hands into his pocket. "So how was working with Katie?" He nodded, seeing James' expression. "I see. Look, just go easy on her, okay? She's not like...well, she's not like _her_." He emphasized. "And watch out for her, too. She is my baby sister." Kendall added before leaving to find his partner.

* * *

Coming out of Gustavo's office, James spotted Katie spinning around in her office chair, staring absentmindedly at the ceiling. He scowled.

"Where were you? How come you didn't come to the meeting?" He asked gruffly.

Katie snapped her head down and zoomed in on James. She stood up and brushed down her sweatshirt. James eyed the cartoon dog with great distaste.

"I was doing Cam's ballistics test. Passed it! With flying colours, of course." Katie added, with a sly smirk on her face.

James stood in front of her, waiting. He rolled his eyes when she stared blankly back at him. "Well, let's see it."

"Oh! Katie reached into the holster now attached to her jeans. She pulled out a sleek semi-automatic with a short barrel. "It's the latest S-gun. Cam says it suits my style." She posed with the weapon, mockingly taking aim at James.

"Point that thing at me one more time, and you'll be sorry you ever did." James threatened, stepping close to Katie to intimidate her. Their chests mere inches apart.

Katie gulped again, but James saw a spark flash in her chocolate coloured eyes. She stood up straighter and smirked up at him.

"Anyone ever tell you that you have pretty lashes? Seriously, I'm jealous of you. Do you go to a lash bar and get them treated? There's no way those things are natural. They're just so full, and look at the way they curl, they're so pretty."

James groaned and stepped away from the infuriating girl in front of him. "Grab your things. We're heading out. I don't have time for your inane comments."

"Cool. Where are we going? Back to the mat? Are we going to be killing some demons now?" Katie asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"If you were at the meeting, you'd know exactly what is happening," James replied, pushing the elevator button.

Katie crossed her arms and grumbled under her breath. "Smartass." James smirked upon hearing it.

* * *

A/N: To be honest, I'm not exactly sure where this story is headed in the long run, which is a complete first for me. So it's as much as a mystery to me as it is to you where this story is headed. This is probably a terrible idea, but we'll see where it takes us.

Also, it's the first time that I've made a cover art for a story, it is practically impossible to find a picture of Carlos without him smiling. That guy is always so cheerful!

Anyway, I hoped you liked it. As always, please leave a review, it's always so great to hear things from the reader's perspective!

Love,

D

(Who else is excited for the Cher Lloyd episode? I was particularly pumped because it's going to be another episode with a Jatie team-up.)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: What? An update so soon? Well, it's my birthday and I decided to treat myself by posting a chapter! (Actually, a double post today, Hollywood Coaching is also updated).

Thank you again for all of your lovely support! My reviewers, words cannot express how thankful I am for you guys!

[annabellex2]: First, thank you for always leaving a review. I've truly appreciated every comment you leave. Also, as mentioned in the previous chapter, James is 24 and Katie is 18. The other characters should be of age in accordance to them, all but Lucy, who I had inadvertently made a little younger, probably around 21. Hope that helps. :)

Disclaimer: Big Time Rush is not mine.

* * *

"So tell me again why we had to come to a fortune teller?" Katie asked, squinting at the sign above them.

"To find out more information about the lair. Come on." James headed inside without waiting for his partner.

The little bell above the door tinkled as he stepped into the shop. They waited for a little while before a tiny woman of Latin descent appeared from behind a beaded curtain. She smiled, flashing her pearly white teeth between two ruby red lips.

"Yames, it's been a while." The woman said with a heavy accent.

"Yeah it has, Selana." He stared intently at the woman before Katie cleared her throat. "This is my partner, Katie."

Katie reached out a hand "Hi, nice to meet you. I didn't know that fortune tellers could help us with..." she trailed off, unsure if Selana knew if they hunted demons.

Selana laughed, tossing her head back. "My dear, I know that Yames here is a demon hunter. Vhy else vould he come to me, unless of course..." she too trailed off, winking at James who maintained a straight face. She turned her attention back to Katie. "I'm a vitch." Seeing Katie's confused look and explained. "Unlike Craft Users, vitches are only able to extract power from spells and potions, but a mortal cannot do vhat ve do. It is in our blood, yust like it is in Craft Users."

"Oh. That's awesome. But why the fortune teller shop?"

Selana giggled and shrugged. "I need to make a living somehow. Now, vhat can I do for you today?"

"There's a new lair at the laundry mat on Broadway. Have you heard anything lately?" James asked, straight to the point as always.

"Mmm, I have. Vord on the street is that Damien and Gabriel have come back and are intent on building the DU again. I thought it was just gossip, but apparently it is much more than that." She narrowed her eyes. "Should I be vorried, Yames? You know that demons do not like vitches, and there are so few of us as it is."

James shook his head. "We'll take care of it. In the mean time, let me know if you hear anything new." He headed out the door without saying anything else.

Katie twisted her head between James' retreating back and Selana's grim face. "Well, thanks for the info. It was great meeting you."

"Take care," Selana replied, moving towards the back room.

Katie jogged after James. She shot him a sly smile over the hood of the car.

"What is it, girl?" James asked, starting the car.

"You guys totally dated. I can see it. You're both the same level of hotness. Too bad you're still not together. How did it end? Was it an ugly break up? I guess not, I mean, she did tell you about that Damien and Gabriel fellas." Katie inquired.

James could feel a headache coming on with all of his partner's questions. "Tell me again, how do your parents live with you?"

Katie quieted immediately and turned to face out her window. James was relieved with the long silence that stretched between them. He parked behind Kendall and Carlos' car in front of the mat, signalling to them that they could leave.

"Don't assume you know me, James Diamond." Katie said with little emotion.

They sat in silence for the rest of the night.

* * *

The next day, after briefing the unit with what he had found out from Selana, James asked Lucy and Jo if they had found out anything from the demon informants.

"According to Simmons, the lair was set up by Gabriel and Damien, just like you said. He said that so far, the lair is just a meeting place for all the demons in L.A. He wouldn't tell us anything more, said that he could be killed by the others if they found out he told us. Even when we threatened to kill him ourselves, he still clammed up. Seems like he's really afraid of these guys." Jo told the group.

"And Gerstein informed us of some more unpleasant news. It seems that they've collected some pretty nasty demons already. He listed a Bartuga, a Gurtrund, a Sciv, and an Alcane. He doesn't know the rest, but I get a feeling, it's not going to be any prettier. We're going to have to move fast if we want to shut this thing down." Lucy added to her partner's story.

Logan nodded, face stern. "I've managed to get an x-ray scan of the building. So we'll be able to see through the walls of the building, but I've only gotten the laundry mat. I'm still working on penetrating the underground so we can see how the lair is set up. I've also set up a thermal reader, as you guys know, most demons are cold-blooded, the 'humans' that show up blue will be demons in disguise. Actual humans will be the regular orangey-red colour. We'll be able to detect how many demons go in and out of that place." He pointed everything out on the computerized surface of the meeting table as he spoke, giving the unit a clear visual.

"Excellent work, Logan." Gustavo praised, eyebrows knit together. "We're going to have our hands full with the amount of demons that will be there. I want everyone to be fully armed and armoured. Logan, I want you to check with Cam and see if she has anything that can be used against these creatures. It's going to be a bitch taking down the hideout, but I expect the job done tonight."

"Yes, sir." They all responded with determination.

The unit dispersed, gathering up all they needed for tonight's assignment.

James walked over and stood over Katie who stayed in her seat. "I see you took note of what I told you yesterday." He looked pointedly at Katie's outfit.

She grinned, smiling down at her navy blue sweater and black pencil skirt over matching leggings. "Well, I didn't want to hear another lecture about my choice of clothing again. So, here you go." She looked James up and down, smirking. "The boots stay, though. I see you took notes yourself. Nice jacket."

James tried not blush as he scowled down at her. He had taken into consideration about what Katie had said about him being conspicuous in a crowd. He had changed his normal attire to a white t-shirt underneath a black leather jacket. He maintained a cool expression, refusing to let her get the last laugh.

Katie rolled her eyes and sighed, knowing that her new partner won't apologize for his behaviour. "So, what are we going to do today? I mean, I know that we're actually going to kick some demon butt tonight, but what are we going to do now?"

James glared at her. "We need to know that building inside and out. We're going to go inside the laundry mat and see if we can find the access route to the lair."

Katie's eyes popped out with excitement. "Really? Wicked! Wait, how are we doing this? Are we just going to walk right in?"

"Yes." James replied curtly.

"But won't they'll know it's us? I mean, you said that those informant demons are there and you use them, so?" Katie continued asking, confused about the whole operation as they made their way to the elevator.

James balled his hands into fists. "Fuck, it's called undercover. We're going to disguise ourselves before we go in. Will you stop it with the 20 questions? It's driving me bat-shit crazy."

Katie huffed, crossing her arms in indignation. She continued fuming until they reached the floor with Cam's lab. She stomped out of the elevator before James. She turned around abruptly, almost causing him to bowl her over.

"Guano."

"What?" James asked in clear confusion.

"Bat-shit. The scientific term is 'guano.' I'd appreciate it if you at least try to show more class when you're insulting me." Katie turned around and continued walking.

James frowned, wondering what the hell the girl was going on about. When they reached the entrance to the lab, he made a side comment as he pressed his finger in the identification pad.

"'Guano crazy' just doesn't have the same ring as 'bat-shit crazy'." He threw a rare smirk at the open-mouthed Katie before striding into the lab.

* * *

"I can't believe that Cam turned me into a redhead. I mean, seriously, there is no way that my skin tone matches my hair. It doesn't look natural. Tell me, does it look natural?" Katie said, pulling at her wig. She looked over at James. "How come you get to be blonde? I think I would look cute as a blonde. She should have totally made me the blonde one." She tilted her head and scrutinized his disguise. "I guess making you blonde was a good choice." She came closer to him, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat. James had the feeling that he was going to teach Katie a lot about personal boundaries. "Wait, you got a tan too? That's so not fair. You look like some sort of surf-god while I look like Pippy whatsherface. I'm going to have to talk to Cam about this."

James scowled. "I _am_ supposed to be a surfer. It makes to look like I actually live in California. The tan's just a Gleen, or mirage if you will. Come on, stop wasting time. We have to do this before sundown." He stepped out of his car, grabbing a bag of fake laundry from the trunk.

Katie bounded next to him. "Well, who am I supposed to be? I stand out like traffic pylon in a forest."

James didn't answer, knowing that Cam's backstory for them was just her way of getting back him for the times he shot down her inventions.

"Come on, you have to tell me. I can't go in there, not knowing who I'm supposed to be playing."

James grit his teeth and hissed, "My girlfriend. Now come on." He headed towards the mat.

Katie paused in her tracks. She looked down at herself. "No one is going to believe that! I mean, really? What person looking like you do now, would go out with someone looking like me? I mean, no offence to redheads or anything. But you rarely see a redhead with a surf-god. They just don't go hand in hand."

James groaned. "Listen, it's just a story. No one's going to talk to us, it's just there for backup. And weren't you ever taught that it's not about the appearance but what's inside that counts?"

Katie grinned. "Aw. That's so cute that you said that. And unexpected." She added before stepping up beside him and grabbed his hand, making James stare at their intertwined fingers in confusion. "If we're supposed to be a couple, let's at least look like we're one."

She tugged on his hand, pulling him into the laundry mat.

Stepping inside, James quickly went into stealth mode. He shoved the clothes into an available machine, watching the people in the vicinity. Suddenly Katie pulled his head down and tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder. He braced himself by putting his hands on her waist, so as to not fall over.

"What are you doing?" He hissed under his breath.

"Making it look like we're making out. The guy behind the cash register hasn't taken his eyes off you since we came in. My bet is that isn't his natural skin colour." Katie whispered back, tangling her hands into his wig.

"You had to resort to this?"

"I've seen this technique in movies, and it always seems to work. So I'm giving it a go. Okay, he's stopped looking. I'm going to pretend to look for a washroom to find the lair. Just stay here and pretend to be on your phone. Ogle that woman in the corner every now and then."

Katie quickly let go of him and headed towards the counter with the cash register. She flipped her flaming red wig over one shoulder and asked the 'cashier' where the ladies' room was. James watched her saunter off into the back of the mat. Glancing a glimpse into the corner, he spotted a woman wearing what he thought was the least amount of clothing she could wear without being arrested for indecency. It was another moment before he realized that Katie had all of sudden taken lead in the operation.

James shook his head before taking out his phone, sitting down on one of the lawn chairs. Taking his 'girlfriend's' advice, he started fiddling with it. He started by taking discreet pictures of the back hallway that Katie had went down and sent them to Logan. He then tried to hack into the video feed, but couldn't get anything going.

Katie came back and surprised James once again, by sliding onto his lap, side straddling him. She tucked herself back into the crook of his neck. "I spotted three doors back there. Two were actual washrooms, staff and public, and one, the middle, is supposedly the janitor's closet. I tried to open it, but it was locked, and a draft was coming through the crack between the door and the floor.

James swept Katie's wig off her shoulder and placed his mouth near her ear. "That really doesn't give us much." He gingerly placed his hand onto her thigh, feeling her twitch under the unexpected gesture.

She retaliated by sliding her hand down the front of his shirt, landing between them where someone watching would think was completely inappropriate. "Which is why I slipped one of Cam's micro bugs under the door."

The micro bug was one of Cam's inventions that allowed Logan's computer system to see what the bug saw. It was basically like any other video bug, but was virtually undetectable with it's minuscule size. It didn't hurt that Cam made it almost indestructible by making it waterproof, and temperature proof. The unit could use the bug in any operation necessary.

Katie slipped her head back and placed her lips a centimetre away from James'. "Told you I was good." She winked at him and hopped off his lap, tugging on his arm. In a loud voice, she said, "Come on, honey. I'm hungry, let's get something to eat." James complied to the fake redhead's whims and allowed her to yank him along.

Katie dropped his hand once the laundry mat was out of sight. She flipped open her phone and quickly punched in a number. "Hey, Logan. The bug is good to go. I think we're all set here. Okay, we'll meet you back at GC."

James frowned but didn't say anything when Katie once again took control of the situation. Katie spotted his look and returned it. "Don't give me that look. I'm your partner, not your student. I'm perfectly capable of doing things without your lead. I may be junior to your senior, but that doesn't make me incompetent." She peered at him over the hood of the car from the passenger side. She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation when she knew he wasn't going to concede defeat to her, again. "We have got to work on your people skills. Now, come on, let's get back to base."

* * *

A/N: A couple of you have mentioned that this is very reminiscent of BTVS and Angel, and all I can do is grin! My intention was to create a world that was similar to that structure, because let's face it, Joss Whedon is brilliant. If I managed to capture even a little bit of his genius, that's all a girl could ask for.

I hoped that this chapter satisfied your appetites.

Like always, please leave a review, as a birthday present to me, maybe? ;)

Thanks so much for reviewing, having this on alerts and favourites, and most importantly, reading!

Love,

Dawnindanite


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I realize that I always start off with an apology for being delayed in updating, but this is seriously inexcusable. I am truly sorry to keep you guys waiting for about a month for a single update! Really, I write only because it brings me joy, and it seems to make you guys happy as well, and to disappoint you guys is something that obviously I wouldn't want to do. I hope this apology doesn't sound pretentious, I am honestly sorry for the wait.

As always, thank you for reading my story! Great thanks to those who leave comments every chapter. This one's for you, GreenPhoenix3, annabellex2, QurikySmile, Readplz, and my 'random' reviewer! Your comments always elevate me to another level. :D

Special shoutout to Science-Fantasy93 who I've mentioned before. She is truly an amazing writer who I feel definitely adds to the heart of the Jatie fandom. Her work is amazing, and if you haven't yet (which seems unlikely), definitely check her out!

[Science-Fantasy93]: I love that you take your time to write such a descriptive review for every chapter! Honestly, the attention that you give my story makes me crazy happy! Thanks! :D

Also, thanks to those you gave me a birthday shoutout! XO

Disclaimer: BTR is still not mine.

* * *

"Katie, you are brilliant!" Logan greeted her as she stepped into the meeting room back at headquarters.

"Why, thank you," she replied, bowing slightly in jest.

"We now have complete visual of the lair. I can create a diagram and send it to your phones almost immediately. Not only do we have the ground layout, but this also gives us a good estimate of the demons we'll have to take down. I've already listed a few in the database, the rest should be be up shortly. You just made this whole operation a whole lot easier." Logan said eagerly, showing the unit his scans of the demons on the large screen in the room.

James sat down in his seat. "Have you pinpointed Gabriel and Damien?"

Logan shook his head, frowning as he scrolled through the hit list. "No, it doesn't look like the micro bug caught any sight of them."

"I didn't think that they would make this easy for us. They probably have informants telling them what we've been up to," James said in his usual monotonous voice.

"We'll be able to get them though, right?" Lucy asked, looking at the others on the team.

Kendall twisted his lips and furrowed his eyebrows. "Damien and Gabriel aren't your average demons. These guys have been around forever. They only disappeared when Gustavo's unit managed to chase them away from L.A. for a little while. It was only a matter of time when they would return. I guess they picked now."

"What kind of demons are they?" Katie asked, looking between her brother and her partner.

"Damien is a Pilonder. Basically, a demon with a titanium shell and venomous saliva. You have to make sure that he never gets near you or else you're a goner. His physical construct makes our job next to impossible because, as far as we know, the only possible weak points on his body are his eyes and the tip of his tail and he always keeps it moving," Carlos informed the group.

"And Gabriel?" Katie continued to ask.

The guys looked at one another. "We're not sure." Logan finally answered. "As far as we know, he's the only one of his kind. There hasn't been enough information on him to identify what kind of demon he is. Or how to destroy him." He added gravely. "It's why we can only chase him out of town and not get rid of him outright."

"Well, shit." Lucy remarked after hearing Logan's description.

"We're stronger this time though." Jo stated. "We have better technology and more members on the unit. There's a chance that we can get rid of him without having to know what he is."

Everyone in the room looked at her skeptically.

"Hey, it doesn't hurt to think positively!" She cried.

"Carlos, Lucy, Katie − I want you guys warm up your crafts. We can't just rely on our guns for this hunt. Logan, I want you to take Cam on this one. She'll stay in the van and monitor you guys. We'll need you in the field tonight." Gustavo ordered, looking around the meeting room. "Cam's already sent up the earpieces and infrared lens so that you guys will be able to tell which ones are demons, as well as some spiffy double loaded mags. You'll be able to shoot more without worrying about reloading. I swear, that girl is making your jobs much easier than it was in my day." Gustavo said, giving a rare praise. He returned to his stern expression. "I want this all done tonight. No messes and definitely no injuries. Knight...Kendall, damn it, I keep forgetting there's two of you now, make sure that there are no stupid mistakes."

"What?" Kendall said, throwing his arms up. "I'm a very capable hunter."

"Sure, if you don't count the amount of times you've been bailed out by Carlos," Jo uttered under her breath but still allowing the whole room to hear.

"Har, har."

"Alright, I want the load of you to properly get into gear and be ready to head out in 30. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." The unit chorused. Gustavo gave a grim nod and beckoned Kelly to follow him out of the room.

"Good luck, guys." Kelly cried out before dashing after the manager.

"Alright. Suit up, we've got some fucking demons to kill," James said, staring at his team.

* * *

_***buzz***_

"Wow, Cam. These contact lenses are amazing. I can't believe that you designed them so that they are infrared enhanced. When Gustavo said lens, I thought he meant those heavy duty goggles that they wear in films."

_***buzz***_

"Aw, thanks, Katie. Yeah, it took a lot of work, but I finally managed to incorporate that technology into the lens. It makes it much easier for you guys to hunt around. And the neat thing about them is that you can easily turn them on and off by blinking three times rapidly. If you think that's impressive, you should see what I've done with Lucy's suit so she can pass electricity through her hands."

_***buzz***_

"Will you girls fucking shut up? This is a mission. Not some sort of gossip radio!" Carlos cried out. "I'm losing my focus."

_***buzz***_

"Everyone in position?" James' voice rang through the system, ignoring the bantering of the unit.

Everyone responded affirmatively.

_***buzz***_

"Remember, take down on sight. We can't allow any escapers. Kendall, Carlos, you guys get the Sciv and the Bartuga. Lucy, Jo, the Alcane and Gurtrund. Logan, you and I will get the remaining demons." James reminded them.

_***buzz***_

"Will you stop acting like I'm invisible! Include me in the tactics, asshole." Katie's angry voice buzzed through.

_***buzz***_

"Just get all the fucking Spitsers and Turfas, girl!" James answered, allowing the unit to catch a rare glimpse of him losing his cool.

_***buzz***_

"Thank you! If you just included me in the first place, I wouldn't have to get on your nerves!" Katie retorted, unaware that she was seeing a side of James that some of the others hadn't ever witnessed before.

Someone whistled audibly over the system, cluing James in that he had lost his focus.

_***buzz***_

"Carlos, Kendall, and Logan, storm the backdoor in five. Lucy, Jo, and I will take front door. Katie, you do the perimeter. Those guys will make a run for it immediately instead of fighting. Cam will have your back with the truck."

They all waited for Katie to make a snarky remark.

**_*buzz*_**

"He included me this time. That's all I wanted." She finally broke the silence. "So when do we actually do this?"

_***buzz***_

"The second that Cam shuts down the power in the place. It'll disarm the demons for a few seconds, but they'll still be able to see us. Those bastards and their demon eyes." Jo answered.

_***buzz***_

"Shutting down in ten, nine, eight..." Cam started counting.

_***buzz***_

"Fuck, my blood is _pumping_!" Carlos cried out in excitement.

_***buzz***_

"Katie, be careful." Kendall cautioned.

_***buzz***_

"You too, big brother."

_***buzz***_

"...two, one!"

The unit saw the lights in the building go out and quickly charged at the entrances. Seeing no humans in the mat, they made their way to the lair entrance, making sure to shoot down the demon behind that cash register and a couple demons standing by the machines. Kendall kicked down the door and gestured for the unit to head down before he followed. Katie stood guard at the top of the stairs, waiting for any weaker demons making a run.

James led the unit, gun in position. The rotting smell of decay suddenly filled his nostrils. He spotted a large lurking figure standing twenty feet in front of him. Looking at the outline of the creature, he knew exactly which one it was.

_***buzz***_

"Bartuga, 12 o'clock."

Carlos and Kendall ran ahead of him and took aim at the demon. Carlos raised his hand and brought down metal pipes around their target, trapping it instantaneously.

Kendall quickly shot multiple rounds at the Bartuga, aiming at the demon's head.

"You think you can just come in here and start destroying us? Amateurs." A wooden beam knocked Logan and Lucy to the ground.

Jo took stance and quickly aimed her gun in the direction the beam came from. A blur of blue zigzagged in front of her, before appearing right before her and thrusting her against the wall. Jo let out a groan before collapsing.

Lucy stood up and quickly shot out her hand to touch the blur. The creature froze and screamed under the electrical current passing through Lucy's fingers.

Jo got to her feet and shot at the frozen demon.

Meanwhile, James had snaked his way into the depths of the lair trying to trace anymore blue figures. He shot at a passing blue light in the distance that quickly went down.

_***buzz***_

"Fuck, James, where did you go?" Logan groaned into the earpiece. The wooden beam had knocked him out cold for a couple of minutes.

_***buzz***_

"Head northeast 29 paces." James responded, still keeping his gun up.

The unit heard Carlos cry out in victory over the system.

_***buzz***_

"Bartuga and Sciv are down, baby!"

"Looking for me, sweetheart?" A fireball came hurling at James' head. He moved to the side just in the nick of time. He pointed his gun again and shot at where the fireball came from.

_***buzz***_

"There's a Rocrot down here. Watch out." James warned the unit. A Rocrot was a demon who was able to turn itself invisible and undetectable by infrared technology. Having the ability to shoot fireballs from a distance made it one of the riskier types of demons the hunters had to face.

"James!" Logan appeared at James' side. "A Rocrot? We need to smoke the room." Setting off balls of smoke was one technique of catching a Rocrot; the movement of the Rocrot caught in the smoke and hunters were able to see it's path.

"We can't now. We still don't know what other demons are down here. The smoke will only increase the chance of escape." James replied with great reasoning.

Logan suddenly grabbed at his head, shutting his eyes. Within a few seconds he opened them wide. "Jo, get down, now! Now!" He screamed into his earpiece.

After hearing Logan's warning, Jo quickly ducked. A fireball missed her head by an inch coming from behind her.

Lucy gasped and shot in the direction behind her partner. A grunt was heard in the dark, but nothing more. She ran towards Jo to check on her.

"I'm alright. Did you get the Rocrot?" Jo asked, spinning around, hoping to see the demon. She placed a hand on her head where it knocked against the wall earlier.

Lucy shook her head. "It got away, but I think I hit it."

_***buzz***_

"I'll turn on the bullet tracker to see where it's going," Cam said from the truck. A short moment elapsed before Cam was heard again. "Got it. It's...it's upstairs!"

All members of the unit simultaneously cried out, "Katie!"

No answer came from the newest recruit.

_***buzz***_

"Cam, why can't we hear her?" Kendall's frantic voice passed through the system.

_***buzz***_

"I'm not sure. I can't seem to get any reading on her. Every form of communication is down. What the hell is going on?" Cam responded in frustration. She tapped into various systems to regain connection with Katie.

_***buzz***_

"I have to get to her!" Kendall screamed.

_***buzz***_

"No. Kendall, you stay down here and help the others round up the demons. I'm closer to the exit and her partner. I'll go." James ordered swiftly, running to the stairs.

* * *

As the unit disappeared from her sights, Katie kept a close eye on the exit. Just as James had predicted, a couple of Spitsers headed immediately up the stairs, sneaking past the unit.

"And just where do you think you guys are going?" Katie asked in amusement. The Spitsers, in their true forms hissed at her and tried to pounce on her. Luckily, they were still a distance away, and Katie was able to shoot them in the heart, killing them instantaneously. With the force of the bullets, the demons hit the shelf holding the laundry detergent, causing a fine mist of powder to raise into the air.

Looking at their dropped bodies on the ground, Katie coughed, waving her hands to clear the air. "Well, I can't leave you here. You'd be a safety hazard when the other guys return." She held her breath and moved to shift their bodies away from the lair entrance. Standing up and brushing her hands, she called into the intercom to see what the others were up to.

"I totally just kicked two Spitsers' asses!" Katie proclaimed, smiling to herself. The grin dropped when no one answered her. "Hello?" It was then she realized that she couldn't even hear the slight buzz that filled her ear when the earpiece was on. "Can anyone hear me?" She moved around to see if the earpiece would reconnect with the system. "Shit."

Just as Katie headed towards the backdoor to see if she could get some connection, she felt a cold burst of wind coming from behind her. She turned around only to see a shadowy figure coated in the laundry powder appear in front of her. It slowly approached her. Katie raised her gun. Katie could see a fanged grin in the shadow's face. It threw a fireball at Katie before charging at her, causing Katie to press herself against the wall. The shadow moved past her and headed out the door. "Holy shit!" Katie cried, chasing after it.

Finding herself in the back alley, Katie turned in circles with her gun raised, trying to spot the demon. She glanced down at her feet for a second when she saw a faint trail of green blood. She pulled her gun close to her and followed the trail. When she saw that the trail ended, she pointed her gun out.

"Think you can kill me with one of your measly weapons? One of your friends already took a shot and it was like nothing." A voice whispered behind her. Katie turned around quickly, only to have her gun knocked out her hands. The demon suddenly visualized in front of her.

Its distinct fanged grin and purple stripes on its greenish yellow face and smoking nostrils allowed Katie to identify the demon as a Rocrot.

"Oops, looks like you lost your little toy. I think I'm going to kill you without using any of my powers. It'll be satisfying to sink my teeth into that delicious flesh of yours." It ran a forked tongue across its fangs.

"Really? Because, I think I preferred it when I couldn't see you hideous face!" Katie responded out of habit.

The Rocrot froze before narrowing its eyes. "Why you insolent little brat. I'm going to enjoy killing you."

"Not today." A man's voice called out from behind it.

"What?" The demon turned around too late, a tirade of bullets hit the Rocrot, causing its form to disappear.

James stood looking at Katie with his Q-Gun pointed. He dropped his arm. "What's wrong with your earpiece?" He questioned the girl, as if she knew why her gear wasn't functioning properly.

Katie frowned, all thoughts of thanking her partner leaving her. "I don't know. It's not really my department is it?"

James frowned again before talking into his earpiece. "Found her, and the Rocrot. She's safe." He pointedly looked at Katie.

Just as Katie was about to shout so that the others can hear her, she saw a fireball hurling at James' head. She raised her hand and shot out a blast of cold air, ultimately freezing the flaming ball.

James, seeing the expression on Katie's face, turned around and shot into the air. The Rocrot reappeared again as the bullet passed through its neck. It choked for a few seconds in the air before falling to the ground, finally dying. A puddle of green blood started to spread underneath the demon carcass.

James looked over at Katie who was breathing heavily, eyes wide. "You must have done something to your earpiece. You almost fucked up the whole operation." He pointed his hand holding the gun to the Rocrot. "People could have died."

Hearing that last comment sparked something in Katie's eyes. "Excuse me? I just saved your life not five minutes ago, and somehow you manage to blame me for its escape? If you weren't the incompetent one who didn't stop it down in the lair, it wouldn't have been able to leave the building now, would it? So if you want to play the blame game, I suggest looking in the mirror."

James stepped closer to her, leaning down so that his face was merely a few centimetres away from hers. "I've had enough of your talkback, girl. Don't think that I'm going to go easy on you just because you're Kendall's sister or the fact that you just stepped out of training. I am your senior, and you best remember it," he snarled.

Unlike most people James had threatened in his life, the tiny brunette in front of him refused to cower. She maintained her stance, keeping her eyes narrowed. James could feel her angry breath pass through her lips.

James stepped back. "Don't let it happen, again."

_***buzz***_

"I'm coming back down." James said into his ear piece.

_***buzz***_

"Don't bother. It's all done. We've cleaned the lair." Logan responded immediately, despite hearing James' verbal spar with his new partner. "We're coming up, now."

James looked at Katie, who was still standing tall. "Come on." Katie went to grab her misplaced gun before the couple walked back into the mat in tense silence.

When Kendall spotted his sister, he ran towards her and pulled her into a bear hug. "Katie. Thank god, you're okay. I thought...I thought..." he trailed off, unable to complete his sentence.

"I'm okay, Kendall. Nothing happened to me. See? All in one piece!" Katie reassured her older brother. She frowned as she lifted a hand to a gash running across Kendall's forehead.

"Just a scratch, nothing to it," Kendall waved off his sister's worry.

"Update the count," James demanded of the unit, ruining the interaction between the siblings.

"We counted 11 bodies down there. Fourteen, if you include the Rocrot and the two Spitsers." Carlos answered James. "Here's a list of the demons." He handed over a miniature tablet to the unit captain.

James' expression remained grim. "There's no account of Damien or Gabriel on here." He looked sharply at the unit.

Jo spoke up, hesitantly. "We found an escape route when we searched the floor. Turns out they built an underground tunnel and barricaded it when they left. We couldn't follow their lead. Logan's in the van, trying to see if he can scan the lair electronically so that we can see where the tunnel leads to."

"There was also a number of human remains," Lucy added gravely. "Fifteen total. No IDs yet. Looks like the demons nested here for a while longer than we thought."

James didn't respond to the unit's failure. "Did someone contact JEN for clean up?"

"Yeah, they should be here soo−"

"Meet back at headquarters tomorrow morning at eight. We'll debrief then," James said, interrupting Lucy who was nursing her shoulder. "Kendall, Jo, stay behind; you're on clean-up duty."

"Yes, sir." The team chorused, watching James retreat from the scene. They knew him well enough that he wasn't satisfied with their performance tonight. They also knew him well enough to know that he needed to be alone in order to cool down.

* * *

A/N: To be honest, I'm not completely satisfied with how I wrote out the hunt, but I hope you guys liked it!

Also, I'm really going to try to update this story and HC as often as possible, but I've literally had no time to sit out and plan chapters much less write anything. I've actually taken to writing notes (and bits of story that I have no idea where it'll fit, but it's going in) on my phone whenever inspiration hits. My writing is always at the back of my mind, but obviously real life takes precedence. I did actually want to update HC as well, but I haven't had the time to edit the chapter, and I figured at least one story should be updated. I will do my best to get a new chapter of HC to you by next week!

Let me know what you think! Reviews are my cookies!

Love,

D

P.S. As much as I love Lucy, I have this feeling that they're going to pair her with James this season (I think I remember someone saying that there will be unexpected relationships). While it'll be great to see James finally get a girl, my poor Jatie heart just can't take it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I...have no words. Thank you for your patience with my updating speed. I have been trying to write something each day so that I get stuff up for you guys, but it's really the editing that takes time. I have to make sure that the story is going in a certain direction in case I need to backtrack on something.

Thank you all again for your support. Reviews, favourites, follows. Everything is greatly appreciated. I want to say that this chapter does you justice on the wait, but I wanted to get something up, and well, this was it.

Please enjoy the read anyhow!

Disclaimer: Characters still aren't mine.

* * *

"So, is he always a big grouch like that?" Katie asked the unit, once they all gathered in the meeting room the morning after the raid.

"There are things you don't know about James, Katie. Don't jump to conclusions so quickly." Carlos said, oddly demure.

Katie thought back to one of her first conversation with her partner and remembered that she had something along the same lines about herself.

Last night's assignment had left Katie feeling a mixture of emotions. She was completely ecstatic about her first hunt, but at the same time completely drained. She was knocked out the second that she fell onto her bed. The fact that she and James had left their argument unresolved didn't help her emotional state of being.

She wanted to throw something at the wall, thinking about what he had said to her. Katie had saved his life, and instead of thanking her, he went on to say that she had almost wrecked the operation. For the past two days working for GC, she could conclude that James was not a person who easily conceded defeat, but that didn't mean that she couldn't try to change that. Katie was determined to make James a more sociable person because she planned to stick around for a long time, and as far as things went, she and him were bound to bump heads again.

Katie sighed audibly, slouching into her seat. She absentmindedly started picking at the end of her shirt.

"Good morning, team." Gustavo greeted them when he walked into the room with Kelly and James trailing him. "James informed me of what happened. Despite losing tail on Damien and Gabriel, you guys have done a good number on the DU. I suspect that things will be quiet for a little while as everything settles. I doubt demons would be ready to rise after knowing that you hunters can bring down a lair in a matter of hours. So, go team," he added awkwardly at the end, trying to applaud the unit. "Anyway, Logan. I heard that you were trying to see if you could trace the tunnel. Did you managed to get anything?"

"I managed to get a visual of the tunnel and where it leads to," Logan answered, drawing up a diagram on the large screen in the room. "As you can see, the tunnel was blocked about 50 yards into the tunnel from the lair. But, the tunnel goes on for about another 2 miles southeast. I've compared the underground tunnel with an aerial view of the city, and here, you can see that the tunnel ends in a park." Logan paused, wincing slightly before he continued. "That's not all the bad news though. If you look here, and here," he fiddled with the diagram. "You can see that there are three more tunnels that diverge from the main line. Those tunnels also go on for a couple miles each."

"Wow. When we say it's a Demon Underworld, I didn't think it was that literal," Lucy remarked. "They've basically tried to start building a city underneath Los Angeles."

"Exactly, which means that if we didn't stop them when we did, the demons would have managed to overrun L.A. in a matter of months. But with the unknown whereabouts of Damien and Gabriel, we're still not in the safe. We need to find out where they are, and fast, before we lose the city completely." Logan added. "Because they know that we know about their underground system in this location, I suspect they'll try building another one elsewhere if they haven't already."

Jo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's a high possibility that they have other underground tunnels built in other areas of the city. With the sewage system, it wouldn't be that hard to connect everything together. Most demons prefer to blend in with the crowd and stay above ground, but if we include all the underground lurkers, we're looking at a serious take-over. Also, it would be much easier for demons to come into the city if their underground system develops. With help from the CIA, the body scanners at the airport help us trace as many demons as possible when they enter the city, you know, with the infrared tech and all that. But if demons avoid airports, well, like I said, take-over." Logan amended.

"Fuck. That's a lot of demons," Carlos wisely exclaimed, sipping on his cola.

"Can't you trace all underground activity like you did with this one?" Kendall asked Logan, pointing to his diagram before rubbing the bandage over his head wound.

Logan shook his head. "I could try, but I was only able to construct this diagram because I've seen the actual layout. I can use the city's information to locate all sewer and subway lines and any underground development to build a map, but I won't be able to know what the city doesn't know."

The unit looked at one another, thinking about the conundrum, they knew that they had to build the map before being able to destroy anymore demons associated with Damien and Gabriel. The sooner they drew the map, the better.

"Mole people." Katie suddenly said, startling the room.

"Mole people?" Carlos asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Katie said, leaning onto the large table. "Underground dwellers, of the human variety. These are people who are outcasts of society, whether criminally or socially, who survive without ever having to come up to ground level. They probably know the underground of Los Angeles better than anybody. We can probably ask them to point us to any route below us, that way we'll have a map in no time. If they don't help us cover all of it, we'll at least be able to get a lot of the routes mapped."

"But, you said it yourself, these people are outcasts, what makes you think that they'd actually talk to us?" Lucy questioned. "Not to mention, it's not like we can just come right out and say that we're on the hunt for demons; they'll think that we're up to something."

"You'd be surprised how the human brain works," James finally spoke up. "Humans have been making logical excuses for anything that seems out of the ordinary. I'm guessing that these people have seen demons at work, but they choose not to believe in what they see. And as mentioned, they're social outcasts, if they do bring up demons to anyone else, they'd be seen as psychotic."

Jo bristled at James remark. "Hey, I resent that 'human' comment. At least I'm not a genetically modified being like the rest of you. No offence." She threw in an apology when the rest of the room raised their eyebrows. She cleared her throat, "So, mole people. How exactly do we reach them?"

"Leave that up to me. I know a person who can definitely help us out." Katie answered, yet again.

"Exactly what kind of people do you associate with, baby sister?" Kendall.

"People who can help us out, big brother," Katie replied, crossing her arms, twirling her seat back and forth.

"I think it's settled then. That's what we'll do. Jo, Lucy, you girls go and talk to any demon informants. See if they know anything," Gustavo instructed.

"Wait, how come it's always us girls that have to talk to the informants?" Jo asked, flicking her finger at the manager.

"Because the boys are stupid!" Gustavo answered, like it explained everything. Logan, Kendall, Carlos and even James glared at the man. "Plus, you're girls, it's always easier for you to get sleazy men, demon or human, to answer some questions.

"Are you saying that we only succeed because of our sex appeal, and that you're willing to use it to your benefit?" Lucy asked, she leaned over to her partner. "Does this count as sexual harassment?"

Kelly looked at Gustavo with great displeasure. Being his assistant for so long, she was the only who actually got through to him whenever he crossed the line.

Gustavo managed to look a little ashamed before continuing. "Just do it, please."

Lucy and Jo looked at one another before answering. "Fine. But we want a pay raise. Consider it a fee for our exploitation."

Gustavo knew he was cornered, he froze in a grimace before agreeing. "Okay, you girls get a pay raise." Carlos opened his mouth to speak, but Gustavo spoke before he could, "Only the girls. Katie, you go talk to your friend. Dogs," Gustavo liked to call the men on his team, both out of affection and annoyance, "you will stay here and start with the map, that means contacting the government, without setting off any alarms." Gustavo warned, knowing that most of the government had no idea about the existence of demons.

"Yes, Gustavo." The boys chorused, looking glum.

"Well, get going!" Gustavo commanded.

Jo and Lucy got up quickly and Katie chased Gustavo out the door, having to ask him a question.

The guys chose to sit around in the meeting room. "Man," Kendall huffed. "He's such a...turd!"

"A giant turd, " Logan added, feeling miffed about not getting a pay raise.

"He looks like a turd," Carlos chimed in.

Though he was usually the most level-headed of the unit, even James was annoyed by Gustavo's rulings. "And he smells like turd." He knew that his addition was juvenile, but sometimes he was allowed to indulge in boyish immaturity.

"I heard that!" Gustavo's voice rang through the office.

The guys chuckled under their breaths, not really caring about the trouble they could be in.

A few minutes later, Katie walked into the room with a giant smirk on her face. "Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you guys were perfect for a boy band."

The guys all scowled at her jibe.

"Anyways, I'm off, I'll be back later, just try to be as normal as possible when I get back. I mean it." She pointed a finger in warning, before turning around and heading out the door.

"Hey, how come you're not following her?" Carlos questioned James.

"Honestly, it's nice to not have to listen to her jabber on. No offence," James looked at Kendall.

Kendall laughed, "Don't I know it. I love Katie, but she seriously has a mouth on her."

James stood up. "Come on, let's get started on this map."

* * *

A/N: Well, we have the first Katie perspective at the beginning of the chapter (yes, I realize that it changes towards the end, but I'm seriously running low on time and energy to make it flawless. Hopefully, there's still a smooth enough flow for you readers to ignore it for my sake :) ).

Also, I couldn't help but add the turd song. Classic BTR moment.

Trying to write as much as possible, but sometimes my inspiration is for something that is way down the line. For the first time ever, I'm not writing a story in chronological order, which also adds to the fact of the slow updates.

Again, I really apologize for the wait. If reprimanding me through a review/PM lets out some of your frustration, by all means go ahead. Won't blame you for it. And speaking of reviews, thoughts? Would love to hear comments on the story!

Love you readers to pieces,

D


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for all of your patience, guys! Hope this warrants your endurance!

Thanks again to all my reviewers, you know who you are. Love you guys!

Disclaimer: Characters are still not mine.

* * *

The boys were sitting around, trying to formulate a cohesive map of all the known underground routes when they heard the elevator chime.

"Whoa. I thought you said you worked at a shipping company?" An unknown male's voice echoed through the floor. "This seems a bit hi-tech."

"Err, well, we ship internationally. It requires more...stuff." Katie answered, clearly showing that she didn't think of the questions her friend would raise. "Anyway, these are the guys I was talking about. The blond one, Kendall, is my older brother. Carlos is the smiley Latino, don't ask where he's exactly from, I have no idea. Logan is that dimply brunette, the brains of the operation, and lastly, the broody one in the corner is James. Try not to be offended if he doesn't speak, be glad if he even grunts at you."

James' eyes flashed, but didn't say anything when he knew that Katie just wanted to get a rise out of him.

"Umm, okay." The redheaded male said, slightly confused at his friend's hostility towards James.

"Guys, this is Tyler. He's a friend of mine who'll help us with the making of our documentary on the underground world of Los Angeles. He's a social worker; he's been working with underground dwellers for the past year or so. He thinks that he'll be able to get some of them to help us out."

Tyler nodded, "Katie's told me all about how you guys are all amateur film makers and that in order to fund your project, you guys all took jobs at this shipping company."

"Yeah," Logan said, looking Katie, who just mouthed to the guys to go along with it.

"So, what exactly is it that you guys need?"

Kendall and Carlos exchanged looks, "Well," Kendall started. "We're sort of trying to document how they...travel. You know, because it's a wonder how they manage to survive without coming to the surface," he made up, hoping to sound like it was a legitimate reason.

"Yeah, 'cause people are always wondering how they shower, or eat, or watch t.v.," Carlos added. "Do they visit other underground neighbourhoods. Wait, are there more than one underground dwelling?"

Katie wanted to groan, but she bit her lip from doing so.

Tyler laughed. "Yeah, there are. That sounds like a really cool idea. I'll talk to the folks I know. They'll probably hook you up with information. Well, provided that you pay them. I know it seems unethical, but you have to remember that these are homeless people, they'll do anything in order to survive. The thing is, you guys have to make sure that you don't seem like you're going to expose them, they're really big on keeping their identities a secret. Most of them want to forget they exist, it's why they choose to live in an existence outside of the real world."

"When can we have contact with them?" James asked, getting straight to the point.

Tyler shrugged. "Not sure, as long as it takes for me to convince them." He looked at Katie, "You wanna come? They may agree faster if they see a pretty girl is doing the project."

Carlos started, giving Tyler a surprised look. "Did you just hit on Katie?"

Tyler laughed. "Yeah, right. She's like a sister to me. Not to mention, she's dating Da−"

"Shut up!" Katie hissed, staring at Tyler.

"Sorry. I thought they knew," Tyler replied apologetically.

Kendall stared at Katie. "What boyfriend? Why are you dating a boy that I know nothing about? How long as this been going on? Who is he?"

Logan tapped his friend's shoulder. "Um, maybe you should save the whole 'scary big brother' thing for another time. We have other important issues at hand. But, you know, it's not like Katie's dating life isn't important," he added, seeing Kendall's enraged face. He turned to Katie, "Uh, shame on you, Katie, for keeping such a big secret."

Carlos wheeled his chair next to Katie. "So, who's the boyfriend?"

"I'm not telling you," Katie answered, shoving Carlos away. "Can we please get back to the documentary?"

Kendall walked over to Tyler and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tyler, you seem like a nice kid. I'd hate to have to see any harm come to you." The guys and Katie all watched as Tyler's face became progressively purple. "How about you tell me who Katie's dating, and I'll make sure that you'll be in good hands."

Tyler gasped, "It's Dak Zekon!"

"Tyler!" Katie moaned into her hand.

"Oh," Carlos pouted. "What a letdown. I have no idea who that is."

James rolled his eyes. "Kendall, let go of Tyler so that he can go and find the mole people because he's trying to help us."

Kendall loosened his grip and gave Tyler a pat. "Thanks, buddy. We owe you." He flashed Tyler one of his dimpled grins.

"N-n-n-no problem. I'll get right on it." The red head sped out of the building as fast as he could.

"Great, thanks for that!" Katie snapped, throwing her hands up. She huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Now, I'll have to probably buy him dinner to make up for the fact that you made him pee his pants." She glared at Kendall.

"Who the hell is Dak Zevon? What kind of name is Dak Zevon anyway?" Kendall asked, completely ignoring his sister's ire.

"You heard him, he's my boyfriend," Katie answered quickly.

"Enough," James barked, narrowing his eyes. He was starting to attribute to his recent headaches to the appearance of his partner, who apparently brought along drama wherever she went. "This is not a place to discuss your personal lives−"

"Thank you! Finally, something we agree on!" Katie interrupted.

"Do not interrupt me," James hissed. "As I was saying, this is a work place. Nobody wants to hear about your fucking personal life drama. Strict business from here on out."

James could see that Katie was flabbergasted. "Are you fucking kidding me, right now? I wasn't even the one who brought it up." Katie narrowed her eyes at her partner, clearly wanting to finish this discussion with him, but she held her tongue, waiting for a more private moment. She settled for breathing heavily through her nose with her arms crossed.

"Now, go follow your little friend. See if you can get those mole people to agree to help us. Use your...'charm' that everyone seems to think you possess," James instructed.

"Fine, I'll go. But only because I want to get away from you creeps, and not because you told me to," Katie answered.

Logan, who was back to fiddling around on his computer, swivelled his seat around. "Uh, change of plans. Looks like Gustavo wants another meeting, right now. Seems urgent, he's called everyone in."

Without saying a word, Katie turned on one foot before stomping dramatically towards the meeting room.

Kendall winced. "Ooh, that's not good."

Carlos frowned. "What isn't?"

"She did her little ballerina twirl-thing. She only does that when she's good and angry. We're all going to be paying in some manner. And trust me, it's going to hurt," Kendall whispered, clear fright written in his expression.

"You're kidding me, right? You fight demons on a daily basis, and you're telling me that you're afraid of a girl who's barely five feet tall?" Carlos scoffed. His grin dropped slowly when Kendall's expression didn't change. He gulped audibly, "Is it really that bad?" When Kendall nodded, Carlos slowly took a sip of his cola, worry etched onto his face.

Logan, who remained quiet while watching this exchange, finally piped in, face pale. "She's not going to do anything to me, right? I mean, I didn't even do anything to her. She can't hate me for anything, right? If anything, James should be the one worried. I mean, you did wring her out to dry about the whole entire personal life story thing, and from a completely non-biased, bystander's perspective, she was right. You blamed her for something that wasn't her fault. Tyler was the one who brought it up, Kendall forced the story out of him, and Carlos was egging him on."

"I was not!" Carlos retorted. "I just wanted to know who she was dating for curiosity's sake."

James remained unfazed. "Let's go. Meeting room."

* * *

"Okay, everyone is here. Good." Gustavo began. "Now, I know that we're doing all we can to get the underground network shaped up, but we have other concerns to consider as well. The human body count from the lair was unusually high, and there have been very little press concerning any disappearance in the Los Angeles division. JEN was able to identify that many of them were street kids; people that no one would miss. The other bodies weren't even from the city. It seems like when the demons came flocking in, they brought along snacks with them." Gustavo paced in front of the room. "Because the problem is now not local, Griffin has decided to include other units in our assignment. Team, meet Jett Stetson, captain of the San Francisco unit."

James watched as a blonde man with fine facial features entered the room. The man scoped out the occupants sitting around the table. He flashed a full-watt smile at the female members.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. As your division manager has just stated, I am Jett Stetson, captain of the finest unit in all of California."

Everyone raised their eyebrows when Jett had inadvertently insulted them and continued to speak without care or notice.

"As you are well aware, we are dealing with two of the more notorious demons in North America. Gabriel and Damien have been two of our priority targets for over a decade. They have been scrupulously hunted by all units in the US, however, we have done nothing to actually capture them. They manage to elude us at every turn, managing to bounce back and forth between cities. Griffin knows that the two are hiding somewhere beneath California, which is why he wants us to work together and finally destroy them. This is clearly the perfect opportunity to get rid of them once and for all. My team will be here shortly so you can update them. We'll take lead in this operation and you guys can assist us."

A silent spell fell on the L.A. division; all stared at Jett as they processed what he had just said.

James could tell that his team was about to explode, he held up a hand, still sitting across from their visitor. They all managed hold their tongues.

He gazed at Jett, almost lazily from his seat. "There are a few things I'd like to point out."

Jett smirked, "Be my guest."

"First, you are our guest; do best to remember that. That means that our team will be heading this operation, your team will do nothing until you have confirmed it with us. Second, as much as I admire your enthusiasm," James added sarcastically, "hunting Damien and Gabriel will much more difficult than you appear to think. This will not be an in-and-out assignment, it will require much more brainpower than anything we typically have to deal with. And third, calculating the number of successful hunts between our divisions, I highly suggest you reconsider the title of the San Francisco unit."

While the unit was used to James' cool exterior, Jett was physically irritated by his blasé attitude. Fortunately, Gustavo stepped in before Jett could respond.

"My team captain is right, Jett. This is our operation, please respect our wishes while you're here."

Jett's purple face answered for him before he stomped out the room.

Just as Jett left, Gustavo let out a gasp. "Griffin is not going to be happy about this."

Kendall scoffed, "Why? Are you actually afraid of that guy?"

Gustavo pierced Kendall with his stare, "No. I'm afraid of what will happen when Jett runs to tell his unit manager; Mercedes, Griffin's daughter."

The team winced.

"Oh, that's bad," Carlos said from behind a fist clasped to his mouth.

Gustavo grasped his temple. "It doesn't matter now, I'll deal with it when she comes, just be on your best behaviour, dogs and...lady dogs," he gave a confused look to the women in the room, unsure of what to nickname them. "Don't say or do anything stupid, or worse, anything to get me fired. Now, go about doing your work." He shooed at them, and left the room.

Kelly sighed behind his large retreating back, feeling contempt at her employer's rude attitude to the team. She threw them an apologetic look on Gustavo's behalf. "If you guys need any help with the SF team, just let me know, and I'll get Gustavo to do something about it. That Jett seems like he's going to be a piece of work."

Logan nodded, slumped over his arms. "Thanks, Kelly. We'll keep that in mind."

James stood up. "Alright, any updates from this morning?"

Lucy and Jo shook their heads. "Nothing yet," Lucy said. "We'll let you know as soon as we do. It's been unusually quiet." She stifled a yawn, right after her response.

James looked at the team, realizing how exhausted they look. He looked at his watch and calculated that apart from the four hours between the raid and this morning's meeting, the team had been working for over 32 hours.

He stood up a little straighter. "Okay, go home for the day. We'll continue working tomorrow. We have to wait for Tyler to complete the map anyway, and informants will still be there tomorrow."

Kendall's eyebrows went up. "You for real? We never break until the job is done."

"This isn't a regular assignment, it's going to take more than just a day or two. We'll need all the energy we can get." His monotonous tone eroded the consideration of his words. He crossed his arms, as the team waited for the punchline. "If you want to stay here and contin−"

"No! No, we're good," Jo interrupted. "What time should we reconvene tomorrow?"

"Eight."

With the finality of his answer, the unit scrambled out of the meeting room. James stayed in the room, pulling up the map on the large screen.

James took his time studying what the guys had managed to put together. He highlighted certain areas that were potential hotspots for demons to lay in. He lightly scratched at the growing beard on his face with one hand, thinking about the the possibility that the hunters may be in over their heads with this case. He knew his team was good, but they were going to have to step up their game if they wanted to get rid of Damien and Gabriel. He pulled up their profiles.

"How the fuck do we kill you?"

He shook his head, knowing that he was going to need more brainpower to figure out the answer. He sighed, and decided to go home, figuring that there was little he could do now.

He was headed back to his desk to pick up his phone when he spotted a brunette head wiggling back and forth. He shook his head again, and walked over to his partner. He plucked an earphone that was in Katie's ear, startling the girl.

"Holy shit, you scared me!" Katie stood up, with her gun pointed. James inwardly admired her quick reflexes.

"What are you still doing here?" James asked, looking around the empty room to emphasize the fact that he expected her gone.

"Can't leave, yet. I still have some paperwork to do. Why in the world do we have to fill out so many forms just to work here?" She tucked her weapon away, sighing as she lifted the papers off her desk to show her partner.

"Liability issues. We can't have anyone knowing what we do, in case you leave Griffin Corporation voluntarily or otherwise. Forms state that we are allowed to erase all memory of you working here if that happens. There's also an agreement to a severance package, a compensation form where in the case you die, your family will be supported, also an agreement that your family will not know what you actually do, and who can forget, the health and dental care form," James listed.

Katie cocked her head to the side, pointing at her partner. "Did you just crack a joke? I didn't know you could do that."

James scowled, turning away from her. He walked towards Gustavo's office.

"He's not in there," Katie called after him, sitting back down.

James turned around.

"He left when he figured out that you gave the team the rest of the day off. I think he's just hiding from Griffin's daughter though, who, by the way, still hasn't shown up. Jett came back and wanted to talk to him about the SF unit coming in today, but Gustavo told him that they'd have to wait until tomorrow." Katie informed him, as she went back to filling out the forms.

James nodded. He continued standing there with his hands in his pocket.

With her back still towards him, Katie spoke up again, "You know, you can just leave, right? Kendall told me how to lock up the building after I'm done." Her tone was cold, warning him that she had remembered what happened before the meeting, and what happened yesterday.

He bit his cheek, holding in a retort to question her competency in the task. But, even he knew that he had been unfair that afternoon. There was just something about the teenaged girl that riled him up the second he saw her. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed to have no fear when it came to him, something that he wasn't used to. He knew that he had the respect from everyone else on the unit, but Katie just seemed to disregard the role that he played. She countered him every chance she got. He needed a more compliant partner.

Though he knew he was wrong, that still didn't mean that she warranted an apology.

He shrugged, knowing that she couldn't see his movement. He headed for the elevators. "Don't forget to turn off the lights," he threw over his shoulder.

He could hear Katie growl. "Well, nice to see that you care about my safety." She had raced over to stand in front of the elevators from afar.

James stepped into the elevator. "You said that you could do it. Why should I care if you die or not?" He leaned over to press the button.

He smirked when he saw her stomp her foot in frustration. "Argh! You're such a dick, James!"

He let out a chuckle when the doors closed. Maybe partnering with Katie wouldn't be all terrible. He would be at least entertained by seeing how much he could get on to her nerves.

* * *

When James settled in his car, Kendall called him. "What is it?" He answered immediately. "You want me to do what? That's a violation of company rules, Knight. And privacy," he added as an afterthought. "I don't care if she's your sister. I'm not tracing her phone calls." He rolled his eyes listening to his friend plead over the phone. "Fine," he ceded. "I'll do it. You owe me, Kendall."

James fiddled with his phone once he hung up with Kendall. Logan had provided his phone the option to trace calls whenever he needed to activate the feature, particularly with any tricky demon. He found his partner's number and set up the tracker to inform him of who's contacting her, and because he knew that Kendall would probably want more information, he decided to bring up her history, calls and texts, just in case.

Again, he was going past what he normally did with team members, but in Katie's case, it seemed that he was breaking quite a few of his personal rules. He really didn't care who Katie Knight was dating, but because Kendall rarely asked him to do anything that jeopardized his belief system, and the man seemed desperate to know about who was dating his sister, James relented to his request. Also, he knew that if his partner found out, Katie would just be even more irritated than she already was, and that was always a plus.

As he waited for the system to drag up past information on Katie, James scrolled through his contact list. He frowned at the number of phone numbers he had never dialled, probably put into the phone by one night stands and the like. He slowly deleted each number. It wasn't his fault that he never had any time to call these girls for a second...whatever it was. Protecting the city from a demon overrun took precedence.

An alert popped up, telling him that it managed to find Katie's phone history. He scrolled through the texts, finding everything meaningless. All the girl did was text her friends, and occasionally her so-called boyfriend. He skimmed past the usual cute-talk between the couple, but halted immediately when he spotted a sent image. He clicked on the icon to see the picture better. His eyes widened. Little Katie Knight had sent her boyfriend a nude photo. Strategically covering her assets, it remained clear that she was wearing no article of clothing on her body.

James closed his eyes. He wanted to erase the image from his mind, but the smooth alabaster skin of his partner kept appearing before his eyes. Fuck. He had lasted this long without thinking of his partner in a sexual manner, and he didn't want to go changing that just because he saw a picture of her nude. His inner demon argued. Katie was exactly his type. Big doe eyes, and a small lithe body, he was attracted to her from day one. Thankfully, her slow-witted, annoying behaviour stopped him from falling for her. There was no way in hell that he would ever like Katie Knight, friend or otherwise. As it was, he had to suffer partnering with her for the duration of her stay; there was no need to add sexual attraction to the mix.

He shifted in his seat, clearing his mind. He looked at the image again, this time willing his body not to react. He debated on sending the picture to Kendall, but he realized that he couldn't taint his friend by showing him a nude picture of his sister. Doing so would cross boundaries even he wouldn't dare. He smirked to himself as he clicked the save button on his phone. While it wasn't likely that he would ever show the picture to Kendall, it wouldn't hurt to keep it as blackmail material if the need ever arose.

He started his car. He'll have Katie surrendering in no time.

* * *

A/N: And finally, admittance that James is sexually attracted to Katie. ;)

And we have three new/old characters added to the mix: Tyler, Jett and Dak (yes, I realize that it's completely random to have him as Katie's b/f, but I have my reasons).

Hope you guys liked it! As always, I love hearing what you guys thought, so drop a review.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

D

P.S. I had to get this up today in honour of the next BTR episode being a James and Katie team-up! I always enjoy those ones most for the obvious reasons. So excited for it.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey, Readers! Long time no see...my fault, of course. Hopefully, this chapter makes up for my long absence! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Thanks so much for your support! I go to cloud 9 every time I'm alerted that someone has commented or added this to his or her favourite/alert list! Really, it's an ego boost (I don't feel like such a terrible writer when it happens! lol).

So onward with the story!

* * *

Katie yawned openly as she walked into the meeting room. Filling out those forms kept her at work for longer than she expected last night. Hours of complete boredom almost drove her to insanity.

Luckily, she kept herself moderately entertained by snooping around her co-workers' desks. Katie couldn't help it, she was naturally inquisitive. She didn't go as far as looking into their drawers, she just went through the things on their desks, just to get a feel of who she was working with. She was pleasantly surprised that her brother had a picture of their family on his desk; while considerably dated, it was still touching. When she reached her partner's desk, purposely leaving it for last, Katie was highly disappointed. The man kept absolutely no personal belongings on his desk. Apart from the desktop and pencil holder, not even a dust particle could be found. Katie figured as much. James was as dry as sandpaper, a person with absolutely no personality, except his propensity to rile her up at every given opportunity.

She sighed, flopping down into a vacant seat. "Morning."

Everyone else returned her sentiments albeit in much better spirits. They had managed to enjoy the night off.

Katie pouted, but quickly perked up when she spotted something of interest. "Oh my god, Lucy! I love what you've done with your hair. It's so cool."

Lucy instinctually grabbed at her hair. She modestly smiled at Katie. "You think? I don't know, I just felt like doing something crazy. I went in for a haircut, and came out with this."

"Are you kidding? The black and red really suits you," Jo piped in, slightly envious that her partner could pull off such a chic look by her tone. "It's so badass. You have to give me your stylist's number, in case I ever want to do something like this." She reached over and played with some of Lucy's newly coloured strands of hair.

During the whole conversation, Carlos had paused mid-way of taking a sip of his cola despite the early hour. "So, that's what it's like to be a girl. My god, every stupid little thing is fascinating to you guys." He shook his head before taking a gulp. He put down his drink and pretended to to twirl imaginary hair and in a falsetto said, "Oh, look at me. I'm so pretty with my new hair. La da di. La di da."

Kendall and Logan choked on their coffee, laughing at their friend's impression.

Katie smirked. She focussed her energy on the guys' drinks. She watched as they picked up their cups and cans and grinned when they were confused at their now solid beverages.

Cluing into what happened, they all turned to her. "Katie!"

Not yet satisfied with her revenge, she created a small spark at the top of each drink, causing the guys to yelp and toss their drinks from their bodies.

Lucy and Jo laughed, high-fiving each other.

"That's enough. Your abilities aren't for you to abuse your unit with. That's your first warning," James' mechanical voice pierced the air. He had walked into the room without any of the occupants noticing. Cam trailed in after him. She gave a small wave at Logan before joining Katie on her side of the large desk.

Katie bit her lip to keep quiet. She was getting tired of James berating her in front of the group, but unlike him, she had the decency to wait until they were alone to confront him.

Kendall grumbled as he went to scoop up the remains of his mug, "Told you she'd get back at us. Now look, we have to get new mugs." He looked down at his shirt and realized that somehow the frozen coffee still managed to stain it. "Seriously? That's it, I'm making all my dry-cleaning bills company expenses." He sat down in frustration, poking at the light brown stain.

James stood at the end of the table peering down at everyone. "I expect all of you to be well-rested, we've got a lot of shit to cover today. In just a few moments, Gustavo is going to bring in the SF unit. While they are here, we are to work in harmony with them, no matter how immature or irritating they can get."

Katie swore his eyes flashed to her for a second.

"If they need access to information, give it to them, however, like I said yesterday, we are taking lead in this operation. If they say otherwise, come straight to me. Cam, they should also have access to our weapons, however use your own discretion as to what is needed and what is completely unnecessary."

The group smirked at each other. They knew that the San Francisco division would be very impressed with Cam's gadgets, and will most likely want to use her inventions, but seeing as they were all highly competitive, they wanted to see how the other team would fare using standardize weapons.

"Any questions?" James asked. "Good," he replied to the silence. He moved to take his seat at the opposite end of the table, waiting for Gustavo to bring in the other division.

They didn't have to wait long as Gustavo promptly walked in with tow of people, including Jett Stetson. However, the guys were looking at the blonde woman standing beside Gustavo in towering heels. Her nose tilted up as she scanned the room with her squinted eyes. She looked at each person surrounding the desk with contempt, only giving a hint of a smile when she landed on Logan.

Cam pierced her lips, spotting the instant rival.

"Alright team, I have here with me the unit of the San Francisco division, or part of it. This, uh, young woman beside me is the SF manager, Mercedes Griffin. She −"

Mercedes interrupted. "That's right. Griffin, as in your boss' daughter. What I say, goes, understood? This is my team, Jett, GD, and the twins: Mandy and Sandy. I expect full co-operation from your unit. Since Gabriel and Damien have been our targets for a while now, we will have full participation in this hunt, and because of our expertise, we will be leading this operation."

James held up a hand, halting the blonde woman mid-speech, surprising her. "Hold on a moment. As I told your unpleasant companion yesterday, we will be taking lead in this hunt. You are in our district, therefore you have to comply to our rules. I don't give a fuck if you are Griffin's daughter or not. It's our territorial domain. You can take it or leave it. Also, Stetson here was quick to remind us that you have been tracking Damien and Gabriel for over a decade, needless to say, I think your definition of 'expertise' needs to be reworded."

Katie ducked her head, grinning into her chest. As much as she disliked her partner's attitude towards her, she found it quite amusing when his blunt form of speech knocked someone else off their feet.

Jett leaned in towards Mercedes who was now white with anger. "I told you he was an asshole."

"Just exactly who do you think you are, talking to me that way. My father −"

"Your father will be glad for it. He's well aware that we are the best damn unit in his corporation. I don't even think that playing the 'daddy card' will let you get your way. It's our operation, however, because we are of the same mindset, you can expect full co-operation from our side," James added, ignoring Mercedes exaggerated gasps.

Carlos decided to chime in. "Um, Miss. Griffin," he paused, "well, that was a weird thing to say, anyway, I think it's safe to say that both units want our hands on Damien and Gabriel, but just to warn you, I've known James here for quite a while, and he's just one of those people who always gets his way."

Katie snorted, "I can totally vouch for that."

James threw her a dirty look from across the expansive table, hearing her comment.

"Miss. Griffin," Logan decided to add.

"Mercedes," the blonde woman flashed a dimpled smile at the man.

"Mercedes," Logan started again, more hesitantly, "You've got to understand, logically speaking, it just wouldn't be effective or efficient for your team to start running orders around here. We have a system in place, and it would make more sense for your unit to integrate into our established arrangements."

Mercedes stared at him for minute. "You're lucky you're cute." She turned to James and the rest of the L.A. unit, "Okay, we'll do it your way. For now. But the second that you guys screw up, I'm taking over this operation. With or without daddy's consent. It's not about who gets credit for getting Damien and Gabriel, but that we finally get them. My guys will listen to your instructions so long as it's reasonable."

Just as she finished speaking, Katie's phone began to vibrate loudly on the table. She quickly lifted it up to check the caller. "Hey, it's Tyler. I have to take this." She quickly darted out of the room, nearly toppling Mercedes over in her hurry.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Rude, much?"

Katie tossed her the finger as she lifted the phone to her ear. She really didn't care about impressing the tart woman. As far as she was concerned, she already had to put up with James, she didn't need anyone else to chastise her for every little thing.

"Hey, Tyler. You got something for me?" Katie listened as her friend spewed information at her. "That's so great, Ty. I owe you one. I'll meet you outside my building in fifteen. No, Tyler, my brother won't be joining us, so you can unwad those twisted panties of yours," she smirked, hanging up. Sometimes, it simply amused her at how easily intimidated her friend could be.

She walked back into the room only to find everyone staring at her. "What?"

Mercedes gave her a pointed look over crossed arms. "Well, what did your lackey say? Are you getting an informant?"

Katie assumed that someone on her team had caught up the SF unit.

"First, he's not my lackey, he's a friend. Secondly, I don't have to report to you. Third, Your roots are showing, like real bad, you might want to hit up a salon or something, and fourth, yes, Tyler has found someone that we could potentially get information from."

Mercedes scowled, ready to backlash at Katie's insubordination.

James spoke before she could utter a word. "Where and when do we meet them?"

"Tyler's on his way. We need him to introduce us, so basically, right now." Katie turned to look at Logan. "Are you coming with us?" She figured that he would want to go out in the field with her and James to immediately start mapping if they got that far.

Logan nodded, "Yeah, totally."

Mercedes perked up. "Great, I'll come with you."

James vehemently denied her. "No. You need to stay at base so that Kendall and Carlos can update you with what we have and vice versa."

"But, Jett and GD can do that."

Kendall snorted. "Yeah, I really don't think that he's going to want to do that. Aren't I right, Jetty-boy?"

"I told you never to call me that!" Jett hissed. "He's right, though. I never want to work with him."

Katie raised an eyebrow at her brother. Clearly, he had been leaving out some information concerning the other unit. Kendall returned her look with one of his own. She shrugged, knowing that she would get it out of him later when he will most likely try to get her to spill about Dak.

Mercedes stared at her partner. "Fine. I'll stay here. You can tell me what happens later, Logie." She smiled flirtatiously at Logan.

"Uh, he can't!" Cam piped in, startling everyone with her sheer volume. "It's just...I need to go over some new tech stuff with him when he gets back. Yeah, I need to tell him how to operate the new Sosta-P4500 program so that it syncs with all current team gear." Cam babbled.

Katie spotted Carlos looking over at Lucy and mouthing, 'What?' in absolute confusion. Lucy shrugged, having no idea herself.

Logan stared at Cam. "O-okay. Yeah, I'll do that." Katie could tell by the tone of his voice that he too had no idea what Cam was talking about.

Cam smiled sweetly at Mercedes. "Sorry, looks like you'll have to be updated by James or Katie."

Mercedes looked at the aforementioned and said unenthusiastically, "Great."

"Okay," Gustavo boomed. "Looks like we have introductions over with, so let's get on with the day, shall we?" He looked at the team, then left without saying another word.

Kendall stood up and walked over to the man dubbed GD and the twins. "Hey, I'm Kendall. If you guys want, there's a spare meeting room that you guys can set up your stuff. It's used for storage, so mind the boxes."

"Awesome. Thanks, man." GD stuck out his hand. "The name's GD. Stands for Guitar Dude. Yeah, before I encountered my first demon, I was part of a band. But man, when I killed, it was like 'whoa,' you know? You just know that's what you're meant for, you know?"

Kendall shook his head with his face scrunched up. "No. No, not really."

"Okay, well, as much as I'd like to stay and watch you puzzle that one over," Katie clapped her hands, "we have a redhead to pick up. Let's go." Katie pointed to the door with her thumbs, looking directly at James and Logan before leaving the room herself.

The guys looked at each other and followed the teenager out of the room.

* * *

"So you have someone for us?" Katie asked over her shoulder as she, Logan, James, and Tyler sat in the car.

Tyler nodded. "Yeah. She's a little out there, but perfectly friendly. People don't usually talk to her."

Logan looked over at Tyler who was sitting next to him. "Why not? It just doesn't really make sense that she's a friendly person living underground."

Tyler shrugged. "She kinda has this thing...it's just that she has this tendency to destroy things once she touches it. It's really weird. I know this is going to sound stupid, but it's like she has this...supernatural ability."

Katie glanced over at James who continued to drive in silence. Logan coughed into a fist. The girl's destructive nature sounded very similar to stories about people who didn't know that they were Dormants or Craft Users. As having a craft was genetic, the likelihood that parents were Dormants and transferred the trait to their children unbeknownst that they even had a craft. However, most Dormants and family are kept under surveillance by GC, in case anything like this happened so that they could prepare them, for training or otherwise. It was rarely that someone would slip pass the radar of GC.

"I know," Tyler chuckled. "Like I said, it's stupid. But, anyway, there was this incident that caused her to retreat to the underground. She's afraid that if she returns to our society, other bad things would happen. This would probably make more sense if you guys knew the whole story, but's it's not mine to tell. I'll let you guys talk to her, maybe she'll be willing to tell you. Oh, that reminds me. We're actually going to the underground dwelling. There will be a lot of people who won't accept you in their domain, so don't take too much offence with the cold-shoulder treatment. It took me awhile before they let me in." He looked out the window, "We should be there soon."

Katie turned slightly to speak over her shoulder. "So, your person is okay with leading us around down there?"

Tyler shrugged. "Should be. I think she wants to see what kind of people you guys are, first."

Katie turned around and stared straight ahead. "As long as this one," she tilted her head towards James, "doesn't speak, we should be good. Heaven knows what kind of offensive remark he will make about her. And don't even say otherwise," she held up a hand to stop James from replying. "You were born without the courtesy gene."

"Just like you were born without an intellectual gene?" James slipped in, turning a corner.

Katie dropped her jaw. "Well...you're a big asshole!"

James smirked. "Clever. Your lack of sophisticated comebacks reiterates my point. If you're going to choose to insult me, at least let the material mask your stupidity."

Before Katie could retort she heard Tyler whisper to Logan. "Are they always like this?"

To which Logan replied, "You have no idea."

Katie scowled, crossing her arms. She glanced over at James and spotted something. "Well, I may be stupid, but at least my fly isn't down. Careful now, keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. Wouldn't want to get into a car crash now, would we?" She knew that she had him cornered. James clearly wanted to check if what she said was true, but didn't want to let her get a word in about easily she could manipulate him. Instead, he opted to grip the steering wheel tighter so that his knuckles turned white.

Katie smirked, score one for her.

* * *

A/N: I have to admit, writing all the Jatie interactions in this story amuses me to no end. They are just so fun to play around with. Actually, all the characters are pretty fun to write.

So, hopefully this chapter was satisfying. I'll try to get the next one up soon so you guys don't have to wait so long between updates (I swear I'm not a sadist, and I don't take pleasure in torturing anyone with waiting periods).

Please leave a review! I LOVE hearing your thoughts on this story (or any of my stories, really). Once again, all of your reactions are priceless to me.

Love,

Dawnindanite

P.S. Happy Canada Day, fellow Canadians, and Happy Early Independence Day to my American readers!


End file.
